Senate Republicans recently dealt a blow to legislation that would have given an extra three months of jobless benefits to all unemployed Americans, but congressional Democrats plan to bring the bill back by attaching it to an Iraq war funding measure.
The House had passed legislation that would extend unemployment benefits for an additional 13 weeks in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for workers who exhaust their regular 26 weeks of unemployment benefits. States with an unemployment rate of 6 percent or more would get an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits. The bill would, however, eliminate a requirement that people work 20 weeks before receiving unemployment benefits, a measure with which Senate Republicans disagreed.
The White House also has threatened to veto the House's legislation if it makes it through the Senate, preferring legislation that would only extend unemployment benefits in states with high unemployment.
